THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL & TRAVELS
These were the Travels of the children of Israel who started out from the land of Egypt, troop by troop, in the charge of Moses and Aaron (Number 33:1).
TRAVEL NOURISHES the soul
According to our sages in Sod, the Secrets of the Torah; in regards to Travelling, Going to places; regardless to where it is, we are fulfilling our destiny on earth by going. Some people say it is a Pathway to the Soul', and others that travel “refreshes our soul, it gives new impetus for our yearnings and goals, and introduces us to new people and situations,” all the while ushering along our 'Tikkun', or divine mission on the earth.
GO TRAVEL!!!
In the book of Sichot Ha Ran, one individual came to Rabbeinu Nachman to ask advise about the matter of Travelling to a certain place, he had questions. Maybe he didn’t like going, and so he was asking whether he should go or not. And Rabbeinu answer to him was: If someone has a journey in front him, he should immediately travel. He should be stubborn and avoid the journey just to stay home.
WHY IS TRAVELLING SO IMPORTANT? WHAT IS THE SECRET HIDDEN BEHIND THE JOURNEYS?
Before we look at the answer, let’s take a look at our Jewish history. What happened after Israel Sin? I see in connection to this that after Israel Sinned, especially with Avodah Zarah (Idolatry), the correction for that misbehavior came through Travelling and Exiles;
they travelled from one place to another, one country to another, one continent to another, until they were sent to all the nations of the World.
The Sod or hidden secret is that when we sin, we shatter the holy sparks of Holiness and they are scattered in places far away all over the world. We cannot see them, we don’t know where they are. Only God knows where those sparks are, to rescue them.
The Job of the Jews is to rescue, correct, fix and elevate those sparks of holiness that have been scattered; from the sin of the first man, to each and every one of us.
And so God planned these corrections by sending special souls to this world that will travel to all those secret places; through our businesses, pleasures and leisure activities. Even when one goes fishing in the wood he is fixing something; by living in certain neighborhood, by traveling abroad, or to a different city, State or country.
So how is that taking place? By abstaining from sinning in those places, by drinking and eating Kosher food in those places, by praying and reciting the proper blessing upon the foods and drink, etc.
Examples of people in the Torah that were decreed to suffered via travelling to places they had no intentions to journey into:
- Jacob had to travel by force to Haran, and became a Shepherd of Sheep and goat, and from there he rescued the holy sparks they were in that place from long time ago, including the Sparks in the four women that became his wives, the sparks that were in the animals, in the river, the trees and the rocks.
- Joseph the son of Jacob forced into slavery in Egypt.
- Jacob thought about retiring peacefully in the Holy Land, but he was forced to travel to Egypt where he would help his children doing the corrections there also before he died 17 years after.
- Then all of Israel was exiled the countries in the North, and
- Then to Babylon, and to Persia.
- Via the Persian they went all the way from Africa to all of Asia and India.
- Then with the Romans Israel was exiled to the whole world, the exile by the Romans last until now, it multiplied, over and over again and again.
Every time they got comfortable in one place where they had their schools and businesses, they were kicked out from there. And our corrections and fixing continue in the whole world.
WHAT IS MAN O GOD THAT YOU SHOULD BE SO MINDFUL OF HIM?
Our sage teach in the Talmud, in Massechet Shabbat that When Moses ascended on High to receive the Torah, the ministering angels said before God, the Holy One, Blessed be He:
“Master of the Universe, what is the human being that you should care so much about them (Psalm 8:5), they are creatures born of a woman, what is this one doing here among us? “
The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to angels:
"He came to receive the Torah."
The angels said before Him:
The Torah!! The hidden treasure that was concealed by You 974 generations before the creation of the world, and You seek to give it to creature made out of flesh and blood?
As it is stated:
“The word which He commanded to a thousand generations” (Psalms 105:8).
Since the Torah, the word of God, was given to the twenty-sixth generation after Adam, the first man, the remaining 974 generations must have preceded the creation of the world. So then,
Rather, “God our Lord, how glorious is Your name in all the earth that Your majesty is placed above the heavens” (Psalms 8:2). The rightful place of God’s majesty, the Torah, is in the heavens (Massechet Shabbat 88b:7).
LORD OUR GOD WHAT ARE WE?
So now that we have seen and heard what the angels and mighty ones from above think about us, humans.
What opinion should we have about ourselves? Why us and why the Jews? Why Israel?
And the answer to that was penned by our sages in the Siddur we pray every morning:
Lord of all the worlds! We know that it is not on account of our righteousness that you have chosen us. It is not because we are so great that we offer our supplications before You on our our daily corrections, but only on account of Your abundant mercy.What are we? What is our life? What are our acts of kindness? What is our righteousness? What is our deliverance? What is our strength? What is our might? Are we able to do anything by ourselves without your assistance?
Of course not. What can we say before You, Master, our God and God of our fathers? Are not all the mighty men like nothing before You? Aren’t all the famous men on earth like if they had never existed? The wise people are like if they were without knowledge? And men of understanding, like if they were devoid of intelligence?
For most of their actions are a waste, and the days of their life are trivial in Your presence. The superiority of man over the beast is nil, for all is futile.
ISRAEL, GOD AND THE TORAH ARE ONE AND THE SAME REALITY
However, God has chosen us to be his own inheritance, his own children, the soul blew in to us is piece of God himself. And we are able to quote the following every morning:
God the Soul you put in me is Holy. God we are Your people, we are Your children, the children of Your covenant, we are the children of Avraham, Your beloved one, to whom You swore on Mount Moriah; we are the seed of Isaac, the son of Abraham, who was bound on top of the altar; we are the community of Jacob, the one you called Your firstborn, [whom]—because of Your love for him and Your joyous delight in him— You named him Israel and Yeshurun.
GOD IS TRUTH, THE TORAH IS TRUTH AND ISRAEL IS TRUTH
וְאַתֶּם֙ הַדְּבֵקִ֔ים בַּיהֹוָ֖ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֑ם חַיִּ֥ים כֻּלְּכֶ֖ם הַיּֽוֹם׃
Ve Atem Ha Devekim Ba’HaShem Elokeihem Chaim Kulchem Ha Yom
"And you who remain attached to the Lord your God are the ones alive today (Deut 4:4)."
You are the ones chosen to do his Tikkunim (the corrections). You are made from the same essence as Him who made you, you are part of him who made you. This is understood in the Sod, the deep secrets of the Torah, to imply that just like God is the Truth, so both Israel and the Torah are also called the Truth. This secret is hidden in the letters of Atem in the verse above and in the Hebrew spelling of the word Emet (Truth).
Both of these words (Atem and Emet) share the same letters of the Hebrew alphabet. This is an allusion to the surrounding sparks of lights (energy), which continue to flow from God into them who remain attached to the Creator, and therefore they are true to their essence who is our God, by whom you all remain alive today, He is the one who influences you and keeps you (By Yoseph Chai - Ben Ish Chai).
Our sages in Avot 1:18 said:
"On three things does the world stand: On justice, on truth and on peace, as it is said: “execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates” (Zechariah 8:16; Rabban Shimon Ben Gamaliel). It is definitely not by what comes out of the mouth of the lying one that we live (Ketubot12b)."
AVENGING THE SPILLED BLOOD OF THE JEWS IS A COMMANDMENT FROM THE GOD OF VENGEANCE
On this Parashah Moses reached 120 years old, God then told: I have one very important Mitzvah for you to do, this is one last commandment for you to execute; this is very important before you die.
What was it? To avenge the spilled blood of the Jews who died in direct connections with Bilaam’s advice, and the antisemitic Midianites.
So the last Commandment to Moses was that taking vengeance on Israel’s enemy, and this Mitzvah was more important that the life of Moses himself. So then Moses was so surprised by God request, and he reply:
“What, taking vengeance by killing the enemies of the Jews is more important to You than me remaining alive?”
And so God gave Moses the choice to fulfill that last commandment and die right after; or to keep postponing the war of vengeance against Midian; so that he can continue alive. Given that it was his last task before dying, Moses could have delayed this task for 10 or 50 or even 100 years, and so he could have continued alive. Or he could go immediately fulfill that order and die.
Moses thought to himself, is it worth it for me to push off God’s delight in avenging Israel’s Blood from the hands of these Nazis, just for me to live another hundred years?
Guess what Moses chose? Of course, we now that Moses was very obedient, so he chose to obey the order immediately and he died right after, when the task was completed at 120 years old (Rav Eliezer Ben Attia.
What lessons do we derived from this drasha? First that the Jews that are killed by the antisemites in the world will be avenged, and second that God will assign someone to take vengeance by killing the Jew haters. One more thing we learn is that the people who died in connection with antisemitism are waiting for their blood to be avenged by God. Just like we see in Genesis 4:10 about the blood of Abel:
“What have you done? Your brother’s blood is crying out to Me from the ground! Therefore, you shall be more cursed than the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.”
THE HILLULAH (YAHRZEIT) OF AARON HA’COHEN
In this Parashah we also find the anniversary of the Passing of Aaron, the brother Moses. He had died on the first day of the Month of Av.
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So although the mourning intensifies, as we come into these last 9 days, from the first of the month beginning this Sunday at sunset to next Monday at Sunset, we should have something in memory of Aaron, like lighting a candle and enjoying a nice meal. And say:
“may his merit be upon us for good and upon all Israel.”
TRIVIA QUESTIONS
1. Which of the 5 Books of Moses is Bamidbar?
2. What does “Bamidbar” mean?
3. What is the common name for this book?
4. Who led a rebellion against Moses in this book?
5. Which non-Jewish prophet is featured in this book?
6. This book tells of the deaths of which two great leaders?
7. Which “zealot” has a portion in this book named for him?
8. How many sidras (portions or Parashiot) does this book contain?
TIMELINE OF JEWISH HISTORY
28 of Tammuz – What happened on this days?
1. 41 Jews were burned at the stake in Breslau, 1453. the rest of the Jews were expelled.
2. Jews of Brussels were ordered expelled, 1716.
3. Jews of Hebron were attacked by Arabs, 1835.
4. 5000 Jews of Rovno, Polish Ukraine, were killed by the Nazis, 1942.
5. 41 Jews here, 5000 Jews there, 30,000 somewhere else, 1 Jew in yet another place. Places and times and numbers all vary. The death of a Jew, anywhere, any place, any time – because they were Jewish – affects (or should) us all.
29 of Tammuz – What happened on this days?
Yahrzeit of Rashi, “best friend” of anyone who learns Torah or Talmud, 1105. The entire male Jewish population of Grodz, Lithuania was killed by the Nazis, 1941.
The 1 of the Month Av in History [Rosh Chodesh Av]
1. Peaks of the tallest mountains emerged above the receding waters of the Flood.
2. Egypt was afflicted with Frog(s).
3. Yahrzeit of Aharon Ha’Cohen. (This is the ONLY yahrzeit mentioned in the Torah. It is not recorded in Parshat Chukat, where the death of Aharon was first mentioned, but rather in Mas’ei, when we bench Rosh Chodesh Av.)
4. Yahrzeit of Elazar Ben Aharon Ha’Cohen.
5. Ezra and his followers arrived in Yerushalayim, 457BCE. (On the one hand, one can view this item as the positive “other side of the coin” of the tragedies that are associated with the “entrance of Av”. On the other hand, it was the relatively small percentage of the people that returned with Ezra that was the seed of the destruction of the second Beit Ha’Mikdash 500+ years later.)
6. Armed revolt at Treblinka, 1943. One of several similar outbreaks that were encouraged by the changing tide of the war against Germany.
7. The Exodus bearing illegal immigrants was seized by the British, 1947. The Exodus 1947 carried 4000 Jews. Its stirring defiance of the British navy and its ultimate forced return to Germany, was one of the most dramatic and heroic episodes of post-war Jewish history.
By Enerio Yochanan BENORINU
Oorah's Torah-Mate
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